Week 8: The first half home stretch

Hey again, its time for this weeks update of my life. So this week was week 5 of work meaning just 1 more week until I switch to a different division and begin work on a brand new project, Hooray!! This week was extremely action packed so here is my Top 10.

1. SCJ really wants to make a good impression on all of the interns so they plan tons of events that allow for networking and taking a break from all the hard work. This week they took the finance guys to a Milwaukee Brewers game. Apparently though this is Milwaukee and you tail gate for everything. So it was kind of nice getting out of work an hour early to sit in traffic, to then stand in a parking lot watching everyone else drink, and thoroughly enjoying watching one of the full time employees get WASTED... Kind of ironic seeing as they make the interns sign an agreement that we will keep our alcohol consumption in check.

2. I usually have a rule that I will never leave a sporting event early because my team is losing. Well I realized I didn't really have a horse in that race so I did not feel the slightest bit bad leaving after the seventh inning stretch after losing a bet picking the Bratwurst in the Sausage race (who would have thought that the Chorizo(mexican sausage) would have won that race...

3. I finally finished reading Catch-22. It is a great book by Joseph Heller. However this is the second time that I have listened to a girl when they told me to read a book. This one turned out a lot better then the first but man it took me... 3 months to read this book. If you give me something I love it'll be done in a week or two usually. So note to self DO NOT try to impress a girl by reading a book she suggests, 1. the book might suck or 2. by the time you finish reading it she has found herself another man... lame

4. I have found recently when holding the 7-month old she likes to slap me in the face and then slime me. I mean who would have known that my niece played a cameo role in Ghost Buster as 'Slimer'. She also likes to eat her food and by eat I mean smear it all over her face...

5. My sister is really working hard to find me a woman. So single ladies give my sister a break and just call me!

6. I opened up a piece of mail at work this week and found a pair of tickets to Summer Fest which just so happens to be a week long love fest of rock and roll! (well and other music too)

7. I present my project in a few days so my stress level is at about a trillion. So of course I am taking my lunch break to write this blog.

8. I have gotten so spoiled living in Utah for the last 2+ years and now have to deal with driving over an hour just to go to a church activity... Anyways I woke up Sunday morning and was extremely sore, this can be attributed to a few hours of Volleyball followed by an hour of ultimate frisbee than an hour and a half in the car the day before.

9. Weekly kickball update: Lost Again. 8-5. I think as team captain I should institute a no drinking policy because we seem to get worse as the game progresses and people become more intoxicated... However, I think the team would stage a coup and overthrow me as team captain. So here's to an 0 and 10 season!

10. I have found that more people than I thought read this blog so to all of you that read my blog, I am sorry that facebook was that boring and you had to click on this link to try and find some bit of entertainment.

Ps. For those that really wanted a picture of my car here it is in all it's glory.

Week 7: What do Trains, Rain, Golf, Parties and Mulch have in Common?

It has been four weeks since I started my internship with SCJ. It is crazy to think that in a week and a half I will be presenting my first half project to a group of upper level management and then moving on to another project. So needless to say the pressure is on and its go time, but here is this weeks 10!

1. This week I got a chance again to get a glimpse of the life of a parent. My niece went to camp this last week so almost everyday before and after work we got to pick her up and drop her off. This made me realize kids take up a lot of time. So needless to say, I am kind of glad that I yet do not have children and will not have children in the near future.

2. Going along with #1, we found that one 4 year old - one 7 year old = a sleeping 4 year old.

3. I managed to get stuck at the exact same train track twice in one day 5 hours apart. The first train had to be huge I watched at least 30 cars go by and it was already running when I pulled up, oh and the second train was just straight up stopped on the tracks for a few solid minutes...

4. This week my Kickball team lost again. Sad I know, but apparently they will not cancel Kickball for rain, so needless to say Kickball is not as much fun when its a little cold and rainy.

5. One might think that hitting a bucket of golf balls one night (and doing pretty well) would translate well into the next day... I submit that for some reason it is easier to hit golf balls when at the driving range then at the golf course...

6. In conjunction with # 5, I verified that in fact I am taking a Golf Class in the fall... and for good measure!

7. It was my sister's birthday this week (Happy Birthday Jenn) and my nieces decide that they want to throw a surprise party for their mom. I had to stop my 7 year old niece from trying to tape up a blank banner and then trying to write Happy Birthday on it while it was magically floating in the air with nothing to support it...

8. Along with # 7, the 4 year old niece goes up to her mom and says "Hey mom we have a surprise for you later, but I can't tell you about it, cause its a surprise" .... Hmm yep I think she missed the concept of a surprise.... :)

9. Here is an Algebra problem for you: 20 yards of Mulch + 5 hours on a Saturday afternoon + X = 1 Happy Brother In Law. (X = ME!)

10. Apparently 20 yards of Mulch wasn't enough.... So I have a feeling my services will be utilized more throughout the summer before I leave. But on the bright side, I am working on a tan and perfecting my Landscaping/craftsmanship skills the longer I stay here.

Week 6: A quarter of the summer gone

This week marks the half way point of the first half of my Internship. For anyone that doesn't know, I am doing two 6 week projects with two separate divisions at SC Johnson. So now I am at the point where all of the work I have done I know have to get ready to present. As always I'll give you my 10 from the week. (sorry no pictures this week)

1. I have discovered that I am the arch nemesis of my four year old niece. Not that I do anything mean to her, but she can go from giggles to screaming at me in about 2.5 seconds. This has been evidenced numerous time in the last 6 weeks I am just now convinced there is nothing I can do.

2. Upon arrival at my kickball game this week I find 2 things. The first that I have 2 more people that want to join, the problem with this is that I already have 27 people on the team when only 10 can play at a time. The second thing is that the league keeps changing things on me and makes me extremely stressed during the entire game. Interestingly enough my average is 2-2 and have scored 2 of the 4 total runs our team has scored in both of our games...

3. After a few beautiful days of 90+ degree weather an enormous thunderstorm comes rolling through the area and drops the temperature 40 degrees so that now it is in the 50s... Man how I have missed the midwest weather craziness.

4. I bought a car. Buying car insurance is a pain in the butt.

5. The great thing about this area is the beautiful back roads that you can just cruise through. Oh how I have missed driving.

6. At work I get out of a meeting with my boss to look at how my project is progressing. After talking for a while I walk out of the meeting and realize that I now have to repeat all the work I have done up until that point and I have to look at other things effectively doubling the amount of work I have to do.

7. I attended a party this weekend that was very informative. I learned a few things, met a few people and found out that some old geezers can shred hardcore on the guitar and have some face melting guitar solos. It was pretty cool.

8. When trying to teach my 7 year old niece how to throw a frisbee I found that she has a mean side to her. She also then understood very quickly that I wasn't going to take her being mean and she very quickly apologized and felt bad about it.

9. In the process of doing my work I pulled numbers from two different sources that should have matched. I brought it to the system administrator's attention and they began trying to fix the error. This is the system the entire finance part of the company uses. After witnessing the system crashing for a few hours I receive a phone call telling me that them trying to fix the error is causing the crash and that they will get around to fixing the problem when not everyone is at work trying to use it.

10. It is funny, when I am thinking about something and an hour later the Lord sees fit to make sure I know that he is paying attention. OK Lord, you got me.

Week 5: Spring has finally Sprung!

This last week the weather finally turned warm, which is AMAZING! It was also my second week at work (Short week thanks to Memorial Day. Like always here's my 10.

1. A 4 year old is fascinated with super soakers until her sister sprays her with one and then comes screaming that she is freezing (despite the fact that it is 85 outside). This lasts long enough for her to realize that she is holding a super soaker and can return fire.

2. This week I can report I survived my first wine and dine at work without incident, despite the fact that I was the only intern sitting at a table full of full timers.

3. When talking with a few of the big wigs in my division and asking all of them what is important about my project, they all tell me that something different from what the others have told me. Moral of the story EVERYTHING IS IMPORTANT.

4. I unfortunately made the decision to become the Intern Kickball Team Captain. Normally I would think this is a good idea, however when 27 interns are signed up when only 10 can play at a time it makes life a little hectic.

5. SCJ has this beautiful thing called Summer Hours, it means you don't have to work after noon on Friday, and that means the weekend starts nice and early!

6. I got to see my sister Susan for the first time in about 6 years. Her and her family decided to drive across a few states to come visit family in Ohio, Indiana, and Wisconsin. It was really good to catch up with her.

7. I got to meet Sean, Susan's 11 month old son. He's a fun little kid that sure loves screaming.

8. This is a message to all the single girls out there. In my gene pool exist Cute genes. If you looked at all of my nieces and nephews they are all so freaking adorably cute. So Ladies if you want cute kids... ;)

9. During one of the beautiful days here me and the fam decided to take a trip to a beautiful beach here in Racine. Yes I said that correctly, there is a nice beach here in Racine.

10. While walking in the sand the 4 year old exclaims "I'm sinking" because the sand was slowly shifting underneath her feet.

Week 4: The Real World

This week I started my first "grown up" job. Granted this job is temporary and I'll be out of it in 3 months, but its a great opportunity to get to know what being an adult will really be like. So to keep with my top 10 list here goes:

1. Had to tell myself, being an intern getting a corner office on the "penthouse" / executive level while the other interns are sitting at desks in a huge wide open floor doesn't mean you are anything special... It just means you got lucky for the summer :)

2. I have realized I really enjoy sleeping in... I do not get to do that anymore...

3. Referring to the one above... I will not wake up early to work out unless someone else goes with me

4. People have awesome words or phrases that they always use. My boss will use the word "Frame/framing" in every conversation I have had with him. One of my coworkers uses the words typical and atypical in EVERY conversation... I laugh because I do it too

5. Even when the company has instituted half day fridays none of the executives leave at noon... which makes it awkward when you work on the same floor with all the executives and you just pack up and leave at noon on friday.

6. I do not know how many different ways I have heard "THIS INFORMATION IS CONFIDENTIAL, DO NOT SHARE IT WITH ANYONE"... my favorite is when subtle threats are sprinkled in with it.

7. Trying to play racquetball when there are small children in the court makes it a little dangerous, surprisingly not to the children, but to my brother-in-law who got a point blank range racquetball to the face.... sorry Kevin

8. When the windows in your office are made of glass tubes (thanks Frank Lloyd Wright) They howl like the dickens when it is super windy outside and you get sunlight but can't actually look out the windows.

9. Cute girls in a singles ward in Wisconsin get circled like hawks on the hunt. Which makes it a little hard for the not so aggressive birds so they are left to just fly circles by themselves.

10. For a girl who isn't afraid of anything and is the most energetic girl ever (shes 4) when she gets scared of a water slide at the pool its kinda funny, just a little bit. In conjunction, while trying to teach a 7 year old how to swim, As soon as you let go she puts her feet onto the bottom of the pool. When discussing the matter with her father (my brother-in-law) his response is "just teach her in the deep end"

Week 3 - 2 Lighthouses 2 Lakes and lots of fun!

This week was very different from the last few I have spent in Wisconsin. Tomorrow is the start of my internship with SC Johnson (yes, a family company) and boy am I ready to get started. Like last week here is this weeks Top 10 with some pictures and videos.

1. I have recently become a magnet to baby puke. In the last week I have been the target of random vomits that come silently and hit with all its gross glory. And the response of the vomiter is just a little smile and giggle.

2. My brother-in-laws sister was in town for a few days and we had the opportunity to tour SC Johnson (see below) and took a drive around Racine looking at the city in all its glory this led to the first stop at a lake and lighthouseat Wind Point on Lake Michigan, I have to say I never thought anything with the name Michigan in it could be so beautiful, but it was.

3. We stopped into '5 guys' this week and I come to find out that my 4 year old niece is more happy just sitting there eating the free peanuts then actually eating her hamburger or fries.

4. My youngest niece has a great affinity for a piece of equipment called a 'jumperoo' she just sits on it and jumps and thinks it is the greatest thing in the world (Click the Link below).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQpeREj9l8A

5. So before I even start working at SC Johnson I got a chance to partake in one of the perks of the job and that is the "Lighthouse Resort" a beautiful resort owned by the company with cabins that are situated on Fence Lake. This was a great opportunity to relax and enjoy a few days with family out on the water and just having some fun.

6. We got to spend an afternoon with some family and I got to see my grandparents I haven't seen in about 5 years. It was great to see them. If you want to know a pearl of wisdom from my grandpa here it is. "If I knew anything I'd be rich and famous"

7. My niece decided she wanted to try out boxing, until she realized once she hit the punching bag it swung back and hit her. She quickly moved on and decided she wanted to try something else out

8. Back to the little niece, she decides she likes to sing so I decided I'd share her beautiful musical talents.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxVLAcdl2fw

9. My sister is straight up freaked out by water flies or whatever you call them. Now that is a video I wish I got :).

10. Have you ever seen a garage disguised as a pig??? Well I have!!!

Week Two, Same as the first a little bit different and a lot a bit ,,, well not worse!

Week two in Wisconsin has come and gone and I still have one week to go before I start my biggest adventure of the summer and that would be my internship. A few more fun things have happened this week.

1. It is great to talk to (Richard) and see (some relatives) people that I haven't seen or talked to in a few years!

2. Despite the belief that Wisconsin is an Icy Tundra it can get really warm here... too bad it was for only a day and then dropped 40ish

degrees the next day. :(

3. Apparently staying with family for free for a month means helping with lots of little projects around the house. But its ok cause it gives me something to do during the day.

4. I guess I actually learned something from my BIO 100 (aka Bird watching) class that I took 2 years ago, when I accurately identified a Killdeer that was feeding on the back patio.

5. Who would have guessed that you aren't actually supposed to be mean/scary when you are the evil guy/monster when playing make believe with your nieces, because you actually scare them and they think you are mean...

6. I guess stone washed jeans are supposed to come with small stones sewn into the inside of the pants, or at least thats what the customer service lady tried to tell me when I went to exchange a pair I had just purchased.

7. I made my first Gluten free dinner, which the children promptly decided they didn't want to eat so the adults got to eat it all.

8. I need to work out because I about died when my 4 and 7 year old nieces decide they both want me to hold them at the exact same time and carry them around a store and my arms about fall off.

9. I hold the awesome power of lulling an extremely energetic 4 year old to sleep.

10. Apparently I make a good pillow (see picture below)